Newsletter

Carter steps in to mend Dems' rift

Jimmy Carter has stepped in to help settle a lawsuit many saw as a barrier to unified Democratic support for gubernatorial candidate Mark Taylor.

The case involved alleged defamation against a Taylor supporter by Peter Jackson, an aide to Secretary of State Cathy Cox. Jackson has recanted and apologized.

Taylor, the lieutenant governor, and Cox waged a bruising primary election battle that left hard feelings in the Cox camp, especially about the lawsuit.

"I hope it is ... a sign that some of the hatchets are being buried," said state Rep. Tom Bordeaux, D-Savannah, a leading local Cox supporter.

But the peace pipe isn't lit yet.

The Taylor campaign and key Cox supporters confirmed that the former president intervened to forge a deal, but gave sharply differing accounts.

"This agreement had been in the hands of Ms. Cox's husband for a long time," said Taylor campaign spokesman Rick Dent. "We appreciate President Carter intervening to get Ms. Cox's husband to agree to have the settlement signed."

But Dehler told the InsiderAdvantage politics newsletter that Carter asked about the dispute when he and Cox attended an event Wednesday in Columbus.

According to the newsletter, Dehler disputed Dent's statement that Carter persuaded him to accept the settlement as proposed by Lee Parks, the plaintiff's attorney.

Dehler said the talks Carter initiated led to a settlement only after "three or four" important changes were made in the proposal.

Parks said the changes were "not substantial."

"The real energy from President Carter was to focus on the need to unify party (and) ... getting us to look at the bigger picture," Parks said.

Dent said the Taylor campaign looks forward "to meeting with and campaigning with Cathy Cox at her convenience."

But Dehler suggested to InsiderAdvantage it may not be convenient just now.

"We have other things going on in our lives and Cathy's professional career," he said. "If they want to invite us to something, we're glad to consider it on an event-by-event basis."

Dent said Taylor was to call Cox late Friday and invite her to campaign with him Monday at a Labor Day picnic in Hapeville.

The lawsuit stemmed from statements by Jackson in June about a letter by former Blakely Councilman Benjamin Cawthon saying Cox opposed the state lottery.

Jackson responded that Cawthon "has no credibility."

"He's expected to be indicted on lying to authorities and obstruction of justice," Jackson said. "He was in jail in Early County last week."

Authorities said Cawthon was held for about two hours last year concerning a traffic offense involving his son, but wasn't charged.

"We now know the statements were not true," Jackson said in a letter date Aug. 28, "and I regret any problems the publication of these statements have caused you or your family."

Jackson did not, as he has before, argue that his statements were off the record - that is, not for publication. But he did add that he told a reporter he "could not verify the accuracy of the information" and it should be checked out before publication.

In the June interview, Jackson suggested that his claims about Cawthon be checked only after he was asked what they were based on.

He then attributed them to a "rumor."

"That was disappointing," Parks said of the explanation Jackson gave in his letter, but he stressed that the retraction and apology are what matters.

Jackson, whose letter bore a Phoenix, address for which no phone is listed, could not be reached for comment.

Attempts to reach the former president through the Carter Center in Atlanta were unsuccessful.

"It was very honorable of Mr. Jackson to offer an apology and a retraction," Cawthon said. "This is the only thing I wanted all along."

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP BUTLER, Okinawa, Japan — Marine Corps Captain James E. Frederick, who ejected from a Marine F/A-18 on Dec. 7, was pronounced dead after his body was found during search and rescue operations.